You Invite Us to Go

¹⁶ Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Matthew 28:16-20
 

Jesus,

You invite us to go

           but we have to stay

You invite us to go

           we want to go

           o how we wish we could go

You invite us to go

           we want to go

                      to work

                      to the movies

                      to our favorite restaurant

                      to the art museum

                      to the park and garden

You invite us to go

           we want to go

                      anywhere

                      everywhere

           but we have to stay

                      here

                      safe

                      secure

And here we stop to pray 

          for those without a job, 

                         without food, 

                         without a home.

We stop to pray for 

          the ill, 

          the disheartened, 

          the lonely.

We here your words of promise: 

I will be with you always 

          as we stay.